ASIFMA Sustainable Finance Conference 2024

October 30th, 2024 | Renaissance Harbour View Hotel Hong Kong

OVERVIEW

About the event:

ASIFMA is proud to host its 5^th Annual Regional Sustainable Finance Conference, where we will bring together a cross industry group of policy makers, finance industry executives and multinational corporates to discuss how to work together to enable and scale transition finance in Asia. There are many challenges in Asia, but also unique opportunities to attract investments at a pace and scale that will have a fundamental impact on economic development. This year, our theme will focus on Enabling Transition Finance in Asia and this much anticipated event will take place on Wednesday, 30th October 2024 at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel, Hong Kong.

Some key topics include:

What’s Next for Sustainable Finance in Asia,
Regulatory Harmonization / Addressing extra-territorial effects of regulation,
Taxonomies,
Blended Finance,
Climate risk and supervision,
Disclosure Requirements and Data Availability.

Language:

English

Program Format:

1-day engaging program through keynote addresses, panel discussions, case studies & fireside chats.

For more details about the event or if you would like to join the speaking faculty, please contact Claire Souleyman at csouleyman@asifma.org

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Joy Balboa at jbalboa@asifma.org

Media contact

This event is open to the press. For media inquiries, please contact Corliss Ruggles at (cruggles@asifma.org).

AGENDA

ASK PANEL A QUESTION HERE

WEDNESDAY 30TH OCTOBER 2024 / MORNING SESSION: 09:00 - 12:25

09:00 – 09:10	Opening Welcome Address: Peter Stein, Chief Executive Officer, ASIFMA
09:10 – 09:15	Welcome Remarks: Boris Chan, Managing Director, Head of Institutional Banking Group, DBS Bank (HK) Limited
09:15 – 09:30	Opening Address: Salina Yan, Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services), The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
09:30 – 10:20	AM Panel 1: Enabling transition finance in Asia: Navigating sustainable pathways. Transition finance is gaining traction globally and in the region. The financial sector and corporates are exploring transition financing opportunities against the backdrop of a dynamic macroeconomic and geopolitical background. Against this background, pledges are continuing, new climate financing trends are emerging, and regulators are adopting a firmer stance. This panel will bring together visionaries and high-level decision-makers to discuss how they see the path towards scaling up and streamlining investments. Key topics to cover: • What are the macro-trends in the region? • What is Asia’s interplay with the rest of the world? • What are the investments needed for transition? • What have been the major pledges made by various stakeholders? • What are the key challenges, drivers and incentives? • What have been the learnings from Just Transition? • What are some technological enablers for accelerating sustainable pathways in Asia? *Panelists:* Wee Seng Lim, Group Head of Sustainability, Strategic Advisory, Project Finance & Energy, Renewables & Infrastructure, Institutional Banking Group, DBS Bank Sabino Fornies Martinez, Minister Counsellor, Economic and Financial Affairs, EU Delegation Beijing *(V)* Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, Managing Director for Climate Finance, Office of the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Valerie Smith, Chief Sustainability Officer, Managing Director, Citi Moderator: Peter Stein, CEO, ASIFMA
10:20 – 10:55	Coffee Break
10:55 – 11:40	AM Panel 2: Blended finance and just transition: bridging gaps, building futures. Securing consistent and sufficient capital flow towards transitional and green projects and assets is of paramount importance. It has been acknowledged that despite all the efficiency and technological gains that we have experienced in the past years, risk and return of investment are still not comparable in some cases with conventional business cases. To bridge this gap, especially in Asia, there is an urgent need for concessionary capital to open opportunities that are scalable and replicable. There are several pilots in existence; however, are there still gaps and challenges in meeting the need for concessionary capital? Key topics to cover: • What financing intervention is required for energy transition? • How to structure blended finance to minimize risk and open further opportunities at scale? • Where can the concessionary capital come from and where can it make the biggest difference? • What would the roles of government and regulators be in facilitating this? • What are the current gaps and opportunities? *Panelists:* Ritesh Thakkar, Senior Advisor, Asia Pacific, Convergence Paul-Antoine Thiebot, Director, Head of Sustainable and Positive Impact Finance, Asia Pacific, Societe Generale Kelvin Wong, Global Head of Energy, Renewables & Infrastructure, Institutional Banking Group, DBS Bank Emily Woodland, Head of Sustainable and Transition Solutions, APAC, BlackRock Moderator: Tiza Mafira, Director, Climate Policy Initiative
11:40 – 12:25	AM Panel 3 Unlocking the potential of carbon markets in Asia’s energy transition. Countries and global corporations have set out ambitious net-zero goals which can prove challenging. While markets look for different instruments to deploy, one of the tools that have been attracting consistent interest, but also still being debated, are carbon offsets and carbon credits. In the past 12 months, almost a dozen new carbon platforms have opened in Asia, however, the key debate remains on how to secure their integrity. Key topics to cover: • What is the role of carbon markets in transition? (both CCM and VCM) • What are the sustainable carbon removal mechanisms? • How to secure the integrity of carbon offsets? • What supply and demand dynamics influence carbon markets? • Is there a need for global standards for carbon offsets? • How can interoperability between different markets be achieved? • What is the role of the financial sector in developing these markets? • What are the key considerations for Article 6? *Panelists:* Dr. Harish Ahuja, Head, Sustainability, Product and Strategy Development (Power and Carbon Markets), Listing, Investor Awareness and Services, Social Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, BKC (NSE) Paul Chow, Group General Counsel, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) Pei Huiqi, Deputy Director of International Cooperation Department, Shenzhen Stock Exchange (V) Chris Leeds, Elected Market Representative, IC-VCM Moderator: Dirk Forrister, President and CEO, International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
12:25 – 13:25	Networking Lunch

WEDNESDAY 30TH OCTOBER 2024 / AFTERNOON SESSION: 13:30 - 17:05

13:30 – 14:15	PM Panel 1: Climate-related financial disclosures: A prerequisite for enabling transition. Tracking progress to net-zero requires accurate and reliable data. International initiatives like TCFD and later ISSB came to assure the comparability and reliability of disclosures. However, there is still a long way to go before we achieve a globally acceptable and unified disclosure framework. Several jurisdictions and sectoral regulators issuing disclosure rules are examining the expectations behind transparency and disclosure initiatives. Key topics to cover: • How quickly should regulators mandate disclosures? • Who should be subject to mandatory disclosures? • Which information is critical for investors and third parties? • Is assurance a critical component of disclosure frameworks? • Is greenwashing the flip side of inaccurate/insufficient disclosure? • Do we have reliable data for these disclosures? • Where is the capacity building most required? *Panelists:* Christine Kung, Senior Director, Head of International Affairs and Sustainable Finance, Securities and Futures Commission Shirley Lui, Associate Director, Sustainable Finance, S&P Global Ratings Paul Malam, Head of Policy and Secretariat Services, Listing Division, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Gabriel Wilson-Otto, Head of Sustainable Investing Strategy, Fidelity International *Moderator:* Peiyuan Guo, Chairman, Syn Tao Green Finance
14:15 – 14:30	Keynote Address: Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
14:30 – 15:15	PM Panel 2: Regulatory trends in supporting transition planning and finance: Looking ahead at the next phase of sustainability. Enabling transition finance and understanding the role of regulators in defining ‘transition planning and transition finance’ is becoming crucial. How can regulators support transition finance and what is the right mix between mandating and incentivizing the industry? How can regulators help bring accountability and stimulate the market, while keeping integrity and protecting investor interests? Key topics to cover: • What is the role of regulators in supporting transition planning and finance? • Incentives vs Mandates? • What are the critical areas for regulators? • Regulators vs business-driven initiatives? • How can regulations help with the broader transition agenda? *Panelists:* (V) Tayakorn Jitrakuldhacha, Director of Bond Department, SEC Thailand Michael Tang, Head of Sustainable Development Office & Head of Listing Policy & Product Admission, Singapore Exchange Regulation (V) Sunil Thekkoot Sreedharan Nair, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India Eugene Wong, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Finance Institute Asia Limited Moderator: Diana Parusheva, Managing Director, Head of Public Policy and Sustainable Finance, ASIFMA
15:15 – 15:40	Coffee Break
15:40 – 16:25	PM Panel 3: *Transition Planning: How corporates and financial institutions build credible net-zero transition plans.* Transition is a long process and without a proper plan we might lose the path. Assessing the credibility of transition plans is crucial as financial institutions and corporates race to align their businesses and portfolios to net zero. Some available guidelines recommend that net-zero transition plans should be science-based, include credible interim targets and implementation tactics. As understanding and practice of net-zero transition plans evolve, assessing their credibility will only become more complex and nuanced. Key topics to cover: • What does a credible transition plan entail? • What are some interim targets and milestones of corporates and financial institutions? • What are the methodologies for setting science-based targets? • How are real-economy transition plans evolving? • What are some key metrics for tracking progress/transparency in reporting transition efforts? *Panelists:* Manshu Deng, Hong Kong Chapter Lead, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) Grace Cheung, General Manager Sustainability, Cathay Pacific Airways (V) Satoshi Ikeda, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer, Financial Services Agency, Government of Japan (V) Nicole Yazbek-Martin, Head of Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, Australian Sustainable Finance Institute Moderator: Helge Muenkel, Chief Sustainability Officer, DBS Bank
16:25 – 16:55	Fireside Chat: *Real World Solutions and Finance: Green fintech and innovations.* Harnessing new technology, like the usage of tokenized carbon credits, geospatial data and creating a data-centric ecosystem, are all coming into the folds of mainstream work in the sustainability domain. How can new age technologies be leveraged and what are the ethics around their deployment? Key topics to cover: • What are the most promising new decarbonizing technologies? • What are the green fintech opportunities? • What are the existing challenges to develop and employ new low-carbon technologies? • What is the existing regulatory landscape on green fintech and AI? Panelists: Bryan Ha, Head of Public Policy, Hong Kong, Amazon Web Services Sam Smith, Sustainable Finance Manager, Swire Pacific Moderator: Jame DiBiasio, Founder and Editor, DigFin
16:55 – 17:05	Closing Remarks: Diana Parusheva, Managing Director, Head of Public Policy and Sustainable Finance, ASIFMA

SPONSOR

To effectively engage this esteemed audience and connect with the global and regional community, various sponsorship packages with speaking slots and marketing opportunities are available for ASIFMA members and non-members offering unparalleled branding exposure and lead generation. Financial institutions, vendors, consultants and law firms are particularly encouraged to join as sponsors.

For sponsorship, contact Joy Balboa, Manager – Marketing and Business Development (jbalboa@asifma.org).

SPEAKERS

Industry experts and senior representatives from sell-side and buy-side communities, law firms/ consultants/ vendors, global and Asian policy makers, regulators and central banks.

At ASIFMA, we are committed to ensuring diversity and inclusion in our workplace and this policy is applied in all areas of our business including speaker roles at our events and conferences. We wish to work with members and partners who share this same commitment and are willing to support this policy. For more details about the event or if you would like to join the speaking faculty, please contact Claire Souleyman at csouleyman@asifma.org

REGISTRATION

TICKET INFORMATION
		Standard Rate:
ASIFMA Members / Endorser Members		US$300.00
Non ASIFMA Members		US$350.00

By registering to this event organised by ASIFMA, you agree that your contact details will be made available to ASIMFA, our event sponsors, and partners. Your contact details may be used to inform you of future related events, products, and services.

*All registrations require final approval by ASIFMA and ASIFMA reserves the right to cancel or decline any registration at any time.